The First Bounty Replica

Prologue: A Solemn Anniversary

As of this writing, this past year (2022) marks the 10th anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Bounty in Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. The sad thing is even within the maritime community little marked the anniversary of such a tragic shipwreck, an amazing survival, and heroic rescue. 29 October 2012, the time has already come and passed and I had wanted to at least acknowledge that passage here. The world has moved on, and the tragic and pressing events of the past few years have become the focus while past events like the sinking of the Bounty have become out of focus as the passage of time makes it history. Even in the time that has elapsed, there was another tragic shipwreck the El Faro which sank during Hurricane Joaquin in 2015 (Which I hope to eventually cover in a future blog post). I have long desired to discuss the sinking of the Bounty from an archaeological perspective as part of the Modern Shipwrecks blog series on this blog, even though the story of the shipwreck has been so well attested and documented in other places for the reason because it happened so recently and the survivors are still around to tell their story, some still sailing on tall ships.

I believe that researching modern shipwrecks like that of the Bounty gives us an insight into shipwrecks of the past and the people aboard in a processual way, which is part of the reason for writing this blog series. It is the same human story since the beginning of humanity’s interaction with the sea, sailing into monstrous storms in small, fragile ships and the survival that comes with it. The sinking of the HMS Bounty in 2012 simultaneously feels both like a lifetime ago and not that long ago. I remember first seeing the footage of the Coast Guard Helicopter flying over the wreck in the now-infamous picture with the ship’s three masts sticking out of the surface of the water at weird angles, a vision from the past happening right now. At the time I was working as a lifeguard at the local YMCA and I was walking through the gym where I stopped and stared at the quiet TV with the surreal image of a shipwreck on it. It was shocking because every time a tragedy like this happens, it always forces our present bias; It begs the question: with all of our modern technology, safety regulations, and navigation methods, how can this still happen? How can a ship still sink? How can a crew lose their lives? This is a question asked of every modern shipwreck dating back at least to the 1950s and surprisingly the answer is always the same. I remember watching the interview with the surviving crew fresh from the rescue and still very traumatized from their ordeal. That interview had always felt exploitative, certainly, these are people who had a story to tell but the press felt the need to interview them immediately rather than waiting and giving the poor crew time and space to at least somewhat recuperate. This will be explored more in part two.

This blog post is a two-part series because, in the course of researching the HMS Bounty built for the 1962 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production of Mutiny on the Bounty and subsequently sunk in Superstorm Sandy, I discovered information about the previous replica of the HMS Bounty built for MGM’s 1935 production of Mutiny on The Bounty. This first blog will be about the 1934 replica while Part II will be about the 1960 replica. There is very scant information that was easily available on the first replica, it is barely acknowledged, much of the available information is conflicting, and once more there is the tantalizing possibility that at least a portion of the 1934 replica may still be extant (which, if you have followed this blog for any amount of time, I always get interested and excited in possible shipwrecks – see the previous blog on the Cigar Ship). The story of the 1934 replica of the HMS Bounty is one worth exploring and I wish to at least set the record straight and explore the interesting early Hollywood tradition of refitting available sailing ships into replicas of historic ships. At no other period of shipbuilding has something like that ever been done. This research went to unexpected and exciting places. Initial research into the 1934 HMS Bounty was undertaken by Mark Winthrop at his now-defunct website http://www.winthrop.dk/bounty/lily.html and it is his research that inspired this blog post.

This blog post is purely going to focus on the replica ships. The original story and facts of the historic Bounty and the 1789 mutiny as a given. If you wish for further information on those topics, there exists a plethora of other places to find it. Nor is this blog post about the 1932 book Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, nor is this blog going to focus on the 1935 MGM film production directed by Frank Lloyd based on the book for which this replica was constructed. The original historic HMAV Bounty was built as the Whitby Collier Bethia in 1784 at Blaydes Yard in Hull, Yorkshire in England, and later refit as the HMAV Bounty on 23 May 1787. The original Bounty was 90 feet 10 inches long, 24 feet and 4 inches in breadth, 11-foot depth of hold, and 220 tons (GT). It was a wooden three-masted ship-rigged cargo vessel. It is worth noting that although the original Bounty was burned by the mutineers on Pitcairn Island, portions of the original wreck and artifacts from it are still extant and a maritime archaeological survey was completed of the wreck over a few seasons in 1997-1999 and one of the original guns was later recovered in 1999. The HMS Pandora, the sixth-rate ship that was sent by the Royal Navy to capture the mutineers and bring them to justice had wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef on its return voyage after capturing the mutineers was also discovered and the subject of several season’s worth of maritime archaeological survey. Finally, it is also worth noting that the Bounty’s mission was to collect Breadfruit from the South Pacific and transplant it to the Caribbean as a cheap, fast-growing food source for African and Indigenous slave laborers toiling away at the British sugar plantations throughout the region and even though the mutiny was a major setback for this plan, the Royal Navy would send a second ship (with the same captain) to fulfill this mission. There will be links in the sources and resources section. Let’s dive in!

The Lily (HMS Bounty)

The 1934 replica of the HMS Bounty started its life as a work-a-day California lumber schooner named the Lily. The Lily was built in 1882 by Dickie Brothers (James S. Dickie & John W. Dickie) in San Francisco, California for the firm of Falk and Hawley. As constructed Lily was a wooden, two-masted sailing schooner, 102 feet 5 inches long, 28 feet 8 inches in breadth, and 8 feet 8 inches in depth of hold, 149 gross tons. Lily’s official number is 140556. The challenge of researching the history of the Lily is that there were three other vessels with a similar name operating off the west coast at roughly the same time, Lily E., Lily L., Lily of Puebla, and the Lily of Killarney. The Lily‘s first voyage was to Ventura, California arriving on 2 September 1882 with a load of lumber for A.D. Salisbury and Co. where she took on a load of grain for the return voyage. It was found during this voyage that Lily and its sister ship, Ivy were found by its new owners to be improperly rigged and were returned to Dickie Brothers to receive the alterations. The vessels were too heavily rigged, and seven feet of Lily‘s mainmast was cut off and the foremast (this source might mean bowsprit) was also decreased in length proportionately on 14 October 1882. Throughout the rest of the 1800s, Lily would sail between San Francisco, Eureka, California, and Noyes (presumably Noyes Island, Alaska) delivering lumber typically redwood. On 11 July 1886 Lily was struck by the steamer San Joaquin No.2 causing little damage to the stern causing slight leakage. Months later Lily was the center of attention for union activities though it was unclear if it was either union or anti-union. An article in the Daily Alta, that talked about the ship owner’s association has in its office some strike cards issued to union men who have deserted the union and “were glad to get work at the ship owners’ terms” mentioned that Lily had its rigging and sails mutilated by “miscreants” and the jib sails of the Daisy Rowe were cut in the same way.

A year later on 12 July 1887, Lily was drydocked for usual maintenance. On 14 April 1889, there was apparently a large blow that caused the loss of 126 lives across different vessels including two crew from the Lily, Anthony Ormsby and “a Hawaiian” (not even dignified with a name). Lily would lose another crewmember on 6 March 1901 when mate, Victor Sjoholm had thrown himself over the side of the schooner thirty miles west of Umpqua, Oregon. It was said that he had been “acting queerly” for several days and without saying a word to anybody he jumped overboard. Lily had come about and lowered a boat, but they were unable to find him. This wouldn’t be the only time in Lily‘s career that would be marked by the tragedy of suicide reportedly on 7 October 1906 another seaman jumped overboard also off of Umpqua, Oregon. On that same voyage crewman Erik Erikson died and was buried at sea.

In 1890 Lily was owned by Joseph Knowland, a member of the US House of Representatives from California, and also the owner of the newspaper Oakland Tribune, his son was Senator William Knowland. On 14 March 1894, Lily was moored at the Mission Street Wharf in San Francisco, when a long stick of timber had projected over the Lily from the neighboring steamer Daisy Kimball, and some of Lily‘s lines fouled around it. Alexander Peterson, the second mate aboard the Lily had tried to free the fouled lines that were attached to the main boom, the stick tore the guy loose and then dealt him three crushing wraps as it sprung up and down due to its elasticity, it was enough to break his breastbone. On 27 November 1894, there was a libel suit against the schooner Lily to recover $969.00. On 29 January 1895, Lily arrived in San Francisco from Umpqua with a cargo of lumber and made a round trip in 12 and a half days which was the quickest voyage on record. It surpassed the lumber schooner Letita, which made the trip in 13 and a half days in 1893. Lily had run into its fair share of trouble, on 14 January 1895, the vessel was thought to have sunk. Later on 4 April 1895, the Lily arrived at the port of San Francisco and reported seeing a loaded ship off of Cape Mendocine with its foremast and jibboom gone.

On 27 May 1896, Lily collided with the Ocean Spray both outward bound out of San Francisco off of Bakers Beach, Lily had its foresail torn and taff rail damaged. Ocean Spray had its head gear carried away, and both vessels had to return to port. On 31 December 1896, Lily had encountered at first what appeared as an overturned ship hull but turned out to be the carcass of a dead whale.

On 1 November 1897 Lily avoided nearly being cut in half in a collision while along the Harrison Street Wharf in San Francisco by the steam wrecker Whiteclaw. Fortunately for the Lily, the fenders were already put over the vessel’s side which prevented greater damage. The stock of the starboard anchor was torn away, and a scar was made on the hull roughly amidships. Later in 1897 Lily was damaged off of Cape Flattery, Washington, and had to be towed and repaired. In January 1898 Lily was the first overdue vessel to arrive in San Francisco after some major storms, it had lost its deck load of lumber and main boom.

Lily had broken her foremast in a storm on 2 February 1901 and the captain had to run Lily before the gale to preserve the mainmast and subsequently was laid up for repairs. On 12 August 1901, Lily arrived in San Francisco and joined the idle fleet due to a shipping slump, its crew left as soon as the ship was anchored. The vessel was left idle for some time. In March 1902 Lily was one of the only vessels that had departed to Umpqua in the face of a series of storms. On 20 September 1902, Lily lost its maintopmast after departing Umpqua after its stays gave way. Captain Nelson reported that during the voyage down the coast encountered many floating logs that broke loose from lumber rafts and became a menace to navigation. At two points in 1902, Lily reported spotting a ship’s boat floating abandoned.

Due to a heavy storm raging outside of San Francisco Harbor, Lily had to come about and return to the shelter of the harbor after attempting to depart on 13 February 1904. Lily was also caught in a squall off of Port Costes and had its mainmast swept overboard leaving the ship floating helplessly and was towed to McNears and then eventually to San Francisco on 3 October 1904. Lily had to deal with dead wind and the captain had to pay two crab boats to tow the schooner into San Francisco with 200,000 feet of lumber aboard and the entire port had to see the strange sight of a 102-foot-long schooner being towed into port by two small crab boats on 26 October 1904. While sailing off of Point Arena, Lily lost its Jibboom on 9 December 1905.

On 18 January 1906, there was growing fear that Lily was missing due to a series of large storms at the time. There was a large number of vessels bound for the Columbia River and Gray’s Harbor and it was thought Lily was among them. Two days later 20 January, there was another large storm that resulted in the stranding of a three-masted schooner on the rocks near Umpqua, Oregon. There was still concern due to Lily still being out at sea until Lily later arrived over the horizon. The stout little schooner handled the storms well. On 13 June 1906 Lily arrived in San Francisco with 200,000 feet of lumber this was the usual load the vessel carried. On 29 May 1907, Lily went into drydock for routine maintenance.

In a similar later incident, Lily had become long overdue during a storm causing much anxiety, on another voyage hauling lumber down the coast from Umpqua to San Francisco arriving just outside of San Francisco on 23 January 1909. This is where Lily disappeared causing much anxiety. The Lily would come into port six days later on 29 January after being pushed out to sea by the gale, the gale had increased to a hurricane. Lily had rode out the storm 35 miles northwest of the Farallon Islands. The then captain, Captain Bjorn reported that this was the roughest voyage in his experience. Confusingly, there was either another schooner Lily that grappled storms off the California Coast in March-April 1909, or the vessel had received a new captain a month later. This craft was due to bring provisions to the Pacific fleet at Magdalena Bay, this Lily was also blown out to sea by a gale, where as soon as it died, another storm blew up driving them further off course. The schooner never arrived and after the storm abated, the steamer Mckinley and other boats searched for the missing schooner. They ultimately drove the schooner ashore near Cabo San Lucas where it was left as a total wreck and the captain, a captain Ed Mayer walked 30 miles through the rough coast and wilderness to get to a place where they could send a message. It is equally possible that its wrecking was incorrect and the schooner was hauled off to be repaired and reused because there is a lack of reporting of Lily’s comings and goings for the rest of 1909, which could suggest that the vessel was laid up for repairs.

Later on 24 October 1909, trouble continued for Lily while en route from San Francisco to Gardiner, Oregon to the Gardiner Mill Company ran aground on the north spit of the Umpqua River bar losing its rudder, the vessel had to wait for the tide to come in to lift it off the bar. There were no leaks from the damage. Its crew of six were taken ashore without trouble and none were injured. Its cargo of lumber was removed. Six days later on the 30, Lily would be removed from the spit. On 19 November 1909, Lily would be towed to San Francisco and drydocked.

On 23 March 1912, Lily collided with the pilot schooner Pathfinder seven miles outside the heads of the Umpqua River. Lily received no damage and continued on its way and the Pathfinder returned to port with its bowsprit smashed. The Lily would perform the voyage carrying lumber between Umpqua and San Francisco for Gardiner Mill Co. for the next decade, usually laden with 200,000 feet of lumber. On 26 February Lily’s longtime Captain, Captain Boettger died in Gardiner, Oregon. Later on 13 July, Lily lost another crewmember, Lewis Norten fell overboard while on watch. Crewmembers managed to throw a life preserver to him and the boat was lowered, but before it could reach Norten he lost his grip on the life preserver and sank. The Lily hove to and searched in the vicinity for his body for many hours.

On 30 May 1914, Lily arrived in San Francisco with 200,000 feet of lumber. When crossing the bar of the Umpqua River, Lily struck bottom, opening up the seams of the vessel. During the entire voyage down the coast, Lily leaked at a rate of 8 inches a day. Lily would be drydocked again in San Francisco. Lily would adapt to changing times, and the little coasting schooner would be used for deep-water voyages. On 23 August 1916, Lily cleared Fort Bragg, California with 210,000 feet of lumber for Honolulu, Hawaii. The tug Higgins towed Lily out of the Harbor. The Scarcity of ships brought Lily out of the coastal runs into the Pacific trade. Lily would return from Honolulu with a cargo of canned pineapples. The falling off in sugar at the close of the 1916 season is the cause of the Lily returning to San Francisco in ballast. Lily had come to San Francisco from Fort Bragg to discharge lumber and material for local canning companies. During its voyage back from Honolulu, the Lily encountered a fortune in ambergris, which they were not able to turn around to recover. On 7 November 1916, Lily cleared Fort Bragg for another voyage to Honolulu with 180,000 ft of lumber and 800 bundles of shingles.

Sources conflict about the career of Lily during this time, one source states that the vessel would be left in the mud flats of Oakland Creek and would be recommissioned for WWI. Though newspaper accounts state that the vessel remained busy through 1916-1918 with regular trips between Fort Bragg and Honolulu. Lily would make its third trip to Honolulu in January 1917 and return to Gray’s Harbor on 8 March 1917 and would load lumber for Oakland. Lily would leave Fort Bragg for Honolulu again on 24 March 1917 with another load of 200,000 feet of lumber. On 7 July 1917, Lily would bring a cargo of lumber from Aberdeen, Washington to San Francisco. Then would depart Oakland for Honolulu with another cargo of lumber arriving on 24 July 1917. Lily would then sail for Levuka in the Fiji islands and return with a cargo of 149 tons of Copra arriving in San Francisco on 7 November 1917. Lily would depart for Honolulu from Fort Bragg again arriving on 24 December 1917.

Lily would return to San Francisco from Honolulu on 24 January 1918 with a cargo of scrap iron. It was a rough sail, Lily lost its mainsail and its foregaff went twice, and the schooner was underwater the whole time, beating against heavy northeasters.

“No Matter what sails blew away, she kept eating up the wind and made excellent time.” San Francisco Examiner 24 April 1918

After minor repairs, Lily would depart Fort Bragg for Honolulu with another cargo of lumber on 26 February 1918. Lily would then sail to New Zealand and Australia with cargos of lumber. On 12 November 1918 as Lily was getting ready to get underway, a holiday was declared on account of the end of WWI and Lily had to remain moored in Willington, New Zealand, and would not be able to leave due to the celebrations until days later. On 17 March 1919 Lily would arrive in San Francisco with another cargo of 152 tons of Copra from Levuka in the Fiji Islands consigned to the Wolf Kischman & Co. The vessel was badly damaged on this return trip and had to stop because the captain was stricken with Flu and had reported that almost all of the population of the Fiji islands was sick with the flu.

Lily would depart Oakland for Dunedin, New Zealand arriving on 8 July 1919 with another cargo of lumber. Lily would then sail for Sydney, Australia where a cargo was awaiting to return to Oakland.

“Lily is one of the most fortunate craft owned on the Pacific coast and has been running continually for over 57 years…Lily has always been reliable and made regular trips like a steamer” Oakland Tribune 8 July 1919

Film Star

1920 is when Lily began its new career as a movie star, on 29 May 1920 a film production was given permission to light a fire and burn the decks for a film while the ship was moored in San Francisco. The vessel was owned by Wilson Brothers Commercial Co. of Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California on 12 July 1920 Lily returned from its last commercial run to Australia returning to Wilson Brothers, and was cited then as the largest ship to have ever entered Newport Harbor. Lily also hauled nearly 40 tons of ship chandlery (rigging etc.) to the Wilson Brothers Plant. Lily was brought into the harbor by the tug Van Tuna and had no problems entering the harbor. On 17 November Lily was on the ways undergoing maintenance and being “refit as a cruiser” and having diesel engines installed in Wilmington, California after which she would remain moored in the outer harbor of San Pedro, California until March 1921 when the vessel would be chartered for another film production. This was partially because Wilson Bros. being reorganized as Newport Harbor Marine Corporation as one brother, Henry Wilson was retiring from the firm.

On 28 March 1921 while anchored near White’s landing at Catalina Island, California, for a film production the Lily was hit by a storm that caused the vessel to drag anchor until the crew lifted anchor to prevent the ship from wrecking in the cove. The Lily would be blown out to sea and adrift for two days. The crew aboard suffered from exposure and were dehydrated because they had no water. They could not set Lily‘s sails because the vessel had some of its ballast removed for film production and the vessel then had no engine. The tug Avalon also chartered for the film production came to their rescue and towed the Lily back to White’s landing at Catalina Island.

Lily was still owned by Wilson Bros and was charted by the film production company Norman Dawn Company of Universal City. Lily was chartered for the silent film Thunder Island and the rest of the filming occurred without incident. Later in 1921, it was stated that Lily would become a full-fledged movie ship on 16 December 1921 the vessel was for sale by Wilson Bros., prospective buyers included film production companies and this was the little schooner’s shot at total stardom. Five days later on 21 December 1921, it was reported that Lily’s career as a film actor was over. Although her sale was not publicized according to the records in the marine insurance Lloyds her owner in 1922 was W.B. Crowe and the schooner’s homeport was San Francisco.

On 9 March 1922, the Lily was reported as being towed to Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation to receive a new engine and propeller shaft. At the same time another vessel previously covered by this blog the Falls of Clyde was at the same yards having its masts cut off during the conversion into an oil barge. The shipyard work took nearly six months with Lily leaving drydock on 30 September 1922. After which Lily was anchored at various spots within the port of San Diego, California. Lily reportedly received two 75 HP Enterprise gasoline engines (because Lily is later described as a “gas screw”) and her owner stated in this reporting is “James Payton”. Lily‘s new role was to be a feeder (a vessel carrying water that can be pumped into steamships for making steam) for steamships calling at San Pedro, California. While this work was happening, Lily was sold on 29 March 1922 by Peter Jacobs of Guadalajara, Mexico for coastal trade between California and Mexico

For 1922-1923 the schooner was being used to haul fish on the Mexican coast and would operate as a supply carrier to lower California fishing camps. Lily would have a brief brush with sinking in November 1922 when sailing south past the Coronado Islands off San Diego, the ship was struck with a warm, violent southwester. Lily was laboring through the storm on one engine, the other having broken down shortly after sailing from San Pedro, California. Lily was carrying a cargo of ice for fish and the hull started filling with water because the ice started melting. Eventually, the strain was too much for the one engine and it burned out too leaving Lily disabled off Ensenada, Mexico. The crew managed to jettison the excess water with pumps and with both engines out, the Captain was forced to hoise the sails to keep the ship piling up on the rocky coast. The Sails were rotten and loose and the first thing that let go was the tackle holding the main boom at the taffrail close behind the wheel, which nearly decapitated the wheelsman. The crew quarters located in a doghouse amidships were swept overboard after the main boom swung over and knocked it over the side, injuring one of the crew sleeping inside. Lily‘s deck load of drums of fuel for the tuna fishing fleet began to roll, battering the rails. Lily managed to weather the storm in this state and would limp back into San Pedro harbor three days later.

Lily was sold again on 19 March 1923 to Captain Carl All of Vancouver, Canada, and he had come down to supervise taking the Lily north. Starting on 20 March 1923 W.W. Paden, the previous owner of the Lily had taken out ads in nearly all the California newspapers that anyone having any maritime liens (debts owed) to file against the Lily should be filed with the San Pedro branch of the Bank of Italy.

There was a rumor at the time of the sale that Lily was going to be used in the liquor trade as a rumrunner, which Captain Carl All resented. Lily was going to be renamed Lirio De Augua (which literally is a type of Lily) and used in coastal trade down to central-south America.Though in both listings in Lloyd’s for 1923-1924 had Lily owned by T.K Hulme in 1923 and Ferd. O. Payton in 1924 and Lily’s home port was Los Angeles. Which would seem to suggest that Lily was operating in sketchy waters. On 20 November 1923 Captain A.M. Westergard proprietor of a West Basin Boat shop and boat builder was arrested in connection with a $30,000 liquor raid and gunfight at the Los Angeles Ship Building Company. This raid led federal prohibition agents to believe that the liquor seized came from the Lily which was anchored off the three-mile limit of San Pedro, California. (Though this source erroneously lists Lily as being 5 Masted). On 22 November 1923, the US Revenue Cutter USRC Vaughn (a converted 110-foot subchaser like those discussed previously in this blog) departed San Pedro, California on what was then reported as a mysterious mission, leading to speculation that Vaughn was hunting the Lily while it was rumrunning.

On 27 May 1927, Lily would be purchased in Vancouver, Canada by Metro Goldwyn Mayer along with the schooner Alice believed to be Lily’s sister ship for the film Twelve Miles Out. Lily or the Lirio De Augua as the vessel was then named would return to San Pedro, California from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on 16 June 1927.

By 29 September 1930, Lily was back to starting in MGM films, the 1929 film The Single Standard and the 1930 film The Ship from Shangai. According to the same article, Lily was in fact used as a rumrunner during prohibition and while named the Lirio De Augua was sailing under a Nicaraguan Flag when she was captured and confiscated by the Canadian government where the studio purchased the vessel back.

In 1931 it was stated that Lily was going to be sold by MGM to another motion picture company, but instead in 1932, Lily would begin her new career as a salvage vessel, recovering cargo from shipwrecks including the wreck of the Panama Mail Liner Colombia off Tosca Point in Baja California (lower California) which had wrecked a year prior on 12 October 1931. By 14 November 1932, using Lily as a platform, deep-sea diver William Lahti had salvaged the safe from the wrecked Colombia, said to contain $5,000.

“She is a sinister ship -The Bounty, – sinister and damned, but beautiful as a half-remembered dream of far horizons and pagan lands beyond the setting sun bringing back another day and other times, the Bounty silent as the stars, floats in the purple Pacific, moving across the waters like a phantom from out the past.” Grace Wilcox, Screen and Radio Weekly, Oakland Tribune 21 July 1935

HMS Bounty Conversion

In June 1934 Lily began its conversion to the HMS Bounty at Wilmington Boat Works (WILBO) in Wilmington, California by MGM for the 1935 production of Mutiny on the Bounty. For most of the sources available on this replica of the Bounty, it was unknown which shipyard ultimately did the conversion. In fact, few sources record where the conversion took place. Adding to this historical challenge, WILBO was also contracted to build a 36-foot-long scale filming model replica of the Bounty that was used for the climax of the film where the Bounty is wrecked and burned. This model would later run into trouble during production when its towline parted with two technicians still aboard. The little model blew out to sea and was adrift for two days before being discovered, presumably by the MGM filming flotilla. This tale would be variously confused with the large Bounty and the Pandora. Both the Bounty and the Pandora were for a time moored at the West Coast arm of Craig Shipbuilding Company (or California Shipbuilding Company) of Long Beach, California. (Craig Shipbuilding was also a prolific Great Lakes shipbuilder out of Toledo, Ohio). This film capitalized on the recent success of the 1932 novel of the same name by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. Work on the conversion began in May 1934. MGM director Frank Lloyd, director of many “sea pictures” insisted on historical accuracy, therefore he, Irving Thalberg, and James Curtis Havens had obtained the original Royal Navy Admiralty Plans for the HMS Bounty. The work of converting the Lily into the HMS Bounty took the shipyard about twenty-eight days at $50,000. It was later reported that the conversion cost $75,000. Whether or not that amount was misreported or that the conversion had cost more at the end is unknown. It was found that the hull of the Lily was too narrow therefore new ribs were built around the outside of the original hull and the space between the new outer hull and the original inner hull was filled with concrete which also served to ballast the ship. A third mast was added and Lily was re-rigged from and fore and aft schooner to a square rigger. The Bounty was armed with wooden replicas of its original armament. The new Bounty was outfitted with then-modern amenities and utilities for film production, below decks the vessel had a modern galley with electric ranges and refrigerators, accommodations for crew, a sound compartment to record the soundtrack, a camera department for storage and leading of the film, mechanical ventilation, a radio room, a wardrobe, and a makeup department. On Thursday 14 August 1924, the new HMS Bounty was launched. After some dedicatory words on the history of the vessel from British Consul W.M. Gurney, the Bounty was christened with a bottle of champagne by British actress Elizabeth Allen. Bounty was launched flying both US and UK ensigns, and 300 people were in attendance.

A lunch for the various dignitaries in attendance at the launch was held aboard the replica HMS Pandora. Both the vessels would then depart immediately across the south seas to Tahiti for filming, then return for further filming at Catalina Island, and San Miguel Island, California.

Filming Mutiny on the Bounty

The first setback the HMS Bounty experienced was that director Frank Lloyd had insisted on filming the Bounty in a storm for the movie, and from December 1934 to January 1935, the vessel was cruising up and down the West Coast searching for a storm to be filmed in. The process of storm hunting took five weeks and Frank Lloyd and the Bounty finally found their storm on 21 January 1935. The vessels would return from filming at Catalina Island for four weeks on 4 July 1935 and were docked again at Craig Shipyards. Tragedy would strike the production on 26 July 1935 with the headlines “Bounty Founders in Squall“, “Movie Ship sinks in Storm”, and “Squall Sinks Ill-Starred Picture Ship“. Papers at the time had misreported that the replica Bounty had sunk in a storm that blew up during filming, what had actually happened was that a filming barge sank. MGM had rented out a few barges for filming from the Wilmington Transportation Company, one of these was the W.T.C. Barge No. 3. For filming some of the deck scenes aboard the Bounty and the Pandora, the deck of each ship was reproduced on a barge as they had more space for film crew and equipment. The W.T.C. Barge No. 3 was made up as the deck of the HMS Pandora complete with masts. The wooden barge was 95 feet long, 34 feet in breadth, and had a 9-foot depth. Frank Lloyd and MGM had the barge towed to San Miguel Island near Bennett Point for filming. This location was chosen specifically for its jagged rocks and reefs. W.T.C. Barge No. 3 was a water barge, essentially a big floating water tank that could be filled. Presumably, for filming the sinking of the HMS Pandora, the W.T.C Barge No. 3 was filled with water to reproduce sinking and was already listing to 20 degrees. Just then a strong wind had blown up and the top-heavy barge capsized launching over twenty people into the water. Believing that the replica Bounty had foundered and people were in the water, the Coast Guard rushed the USCGC Hermes (WPC-109) out of San Pedro, California to the rescue. By the time the little cutter arrived, everyone except for missing cameraman Glenn Strong had been picked up by the MGM filming fleet. Everyone was brought back to Santa Barbara, California by a Tug that was part of the filming fleet.

The Hermes then began the process of searching for Glenn Strong. The last time anyone saw him, he had returned to the capsized vessel because the stern had remained afloat for some time and those that weren’t thrown into the water had congregated there for the rescue. He had gone back to retrieve his camera attached to the superstructure which collapsed pitching him into the water. For the most part, when the ship capsized, nobody saw him go down. $50,000 worth of filming equipment was also lost. After a day of searching Glenn Strong was never found and the Coast Guard gave up searching. Although it was wrecked 1,000 yards from shore, wreckage from the W.T.C. Barge No. 3 was found as far as 20 miles away. A day later divers came to search the sea bottom for the body of Glenn Stong and found nothing, Glenn Stong would never be recovered. The District Attorney at the time filed no charges of negligence on the part of the film production and ruled Strong’s death as an accident. This is remarkable because they were already doing something dangerous when the wind blew up, and that resulted in the death of one person. Although, this was a major setback for the film production, nonetheless, filming for Mutiny on the Bounty continued. Later maritime archaeologists would speculate that wreckage from the sunken of the W.T.C. Barge No. 3 namely the prop replica cannons could account for the rumors of Spanish cannons sighted in the waters around San Miguel Island. After this, along with other vague mishaps that apparently happened during filming, the media declared the replica HMS Bounty a “Jonah”, or an unlucky ship.

After the filming was completed, the replica HMS Bounty did a short promotional tour to coincide with the release of Mutiny on the Bounty on 15 November 1935 the Bounty was sailed to Santa Monica, California, and exhibited to the public. During filming on 4 April 1935, a group of lucky local Sea Scouts was allowed to tour the vessel while it was anchored in Drake’s Bay off of the Point Reyes Coast Guard Station.

What Became of the Bounty?

After filming, the HMS Bounty along with its consort, HMS Pandora were moored together at the entrance to the port of Long Beach, California. (More on the Pandora later) It is unknown if this was done immediately after filming but they are reported as being present by 1937. The photo postcard used below of “Ships Used in Making the “Mutiny on the Bounty”, Long Beach, California was dated 1936. These vessels became part of the maritime landscape, a part of the decoration for Long Beach harbor. Apparently, these vessels inspired people to both photograph and paint images of them and the Long Beach Press-Telegram stated that a “good, lively ghost would complete the picture”.

There the vessels remained, essentially abandoned by MGM. By 1939 it was reported that these vessels were in rough shape after spending a few years out in the elements. They are not quite museum ships because it does not seem that they were ever open for tours but people toured them nonetheless. By 22 June 1940, it was mentioned that the two ships were back to being moored near Craig Shipyards.

At the beginning of World War II, it was reported that the former HMS Bounty had been sold to the US Navy by MGM for use as a harbor inspection vessel named the USS Metha Nelson. However, as this research will demonstrate, this reporting was incorrect. (More on the USS Metha Nelson later) Bounty and Pandora would remain tied to the entrance to Long Beach Harbor. John Lyman in his Pacific Coast Built Sailers 1850-1905 reported that as of 7 June 1941, the Bounty was still laid up in Long Beach Harbor. On 4 May 1945, it was reported that the HMS Bounty was jostled by a passing tanker and as a result, the Bounty had to be pumped out twice daily. The tanker had struck the Bounty on the port quarter and opened the seams. The bow of the tanker also wrecked the main topsail yards. Another rumor suggests that the ships remained, and the Bounty had sunk during the construction of a new breakwater at Long Beach during the 1950s. The wreckage of the vessel could still be seen lying at a steep angle bow up on the inside of the Long Beach Breakwater. Still, another rumor suggests that the vessel remained rotting in the backwater of Long Beach Harbor until it finally succumbed to age and the elements. Extensive searching through historic aerial images did not reveal anything that looked like the wrecked ship. On 25 July 1946, The San Pedro News Pilot lists the former Bounty as being purchased from MGM by F.W. Eaton. Bounty had some of its “Hollywood gingerbread” removed and had its schooner rigging restored. Though enough of the Bounty was retained that it “provides the atmosphere of a south sea trading schooner” and “approaching her could vision her mutinous crew tossing those botanical specimens out. The former movie ship had started its new career as a fishing barge. The vessel had spent its initial time anchored off Cabrillo Beach, Los Angeles, California. Fishing barges are another uniquely Californian tradition, much akin to the previous tradition of taking old, abandoned sailing ships and using them for filming, entrepreneurial minds took those same ships and anchored them at various places off the coast of California for recreational fishing. Many old ships were repurposed in this way. The final answer to what became of the HMS Bounty comes from the Long Beach Press-Telegram on 13 August 1950 where sometime after being converted to a fishing barge, the Bounty had pulled its anchor during a blow and battered itself to death against the Long Beach Breakwater. Therefore, the HMS Bounty did sink, and there’s the very rare chance that some part of the wreck could be extant.

Ottilie Fjord (HMS Pandora)

Like the Bounty, the Pandora had started its life as a wooden three-masted schooner that served in the California lumber trade named the Ottilie Fjord. The Ottilie Fjord was built and launched on 13 August 1892 at Bendixen Shipbuilding Company of Fairhaven/Eureka, California. The same shipyard that produced the schooner C.A. Thayer currently on display at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park and the former schooner Wawona (which is a future Museum Ships Blog) The Ottilie Fjord was 130 feet long, 31 feet in breadth, 9 feet 6 inches in depth, and 261 Gross Tons. Official number 155232. The first recorded voyage was on 7 September 1892 found for San Luis Obispo with a cargo of lumber. This was followed by another voyage on 18 October 1892 from San Francisco, California to San José, Guatemala with a stop in Manzanillo, Mexico to bring another cargo of lumber back to San Francisco. On 12 October 1900, the Ottilie Fjord sailed from Eureka California to Maui, Hawaii with a cargo of lumber. It was a common route for the Ottilie Fjord to take lumber to Hawaii, on 11 November 1902 Ottilie sailed from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii. On 15 April 1903 sailed from San Francisco to San Pedro, California, and it would return to San Francisco on 30 April. A month later 26 May 1903 the Ottilie Fjord arrived late at Eureka due to storms. On 13 August 1903 had encountered a massive gale during the return voyage from Mahukona, Hawaii which flooded the decks up to the rail and stove in the yawl. Ottilie Fjord encountered further trouble on 8 October 1903 on another trip bringing lumber from Eureka, California had been blown ashore at the entrance to Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii. The tug Fearless attempted to pull the schooner off but broke a hawser in doing so, the crew managed to get the vessel off by another tug and high tide lifting the ship off. On 22 May 1904, the Ottilie Fjord arrived at Gray’s Harbor, Washington with a cargo of coal from Topolobampo, Mexico. Ottilie Fjord arrived at Eureka from San Francisco on 20 August 1904 with a cargo of coal for the harbor tugs of Eureka. Ottilie Fjord would depart Eureka for Honolulu after being towed out by the tug Ranger with a cargo of redwood lumber valued at $5,815 on 25 July 1905. On 25 October 1905, the schooner was towed to Eureka by the steamer North Fork to be brought in by a tug. On 21 December the schooner was towed out to the bar from Eureka departing for Honolulu on 23 December.

The Ottilie Fjord had returned to Eureka by 24 February 1906 and was loading lumber for San Francisco. By 16 March 1906, the Ottilie Fjord was sold by its owners to the Pacific States Trading Company. On 10 September 1906, Ottilie Fjord arrived in San Francisco with a cargo of codfish from the Bering Sea. Later in October, Ottilie Fjord arrived in Marshfield with a cargo of lumber from Johnson Mill. Ottilie Fjord arrived in San Francisco with a cargo of 135,000 codfish from the Bering Sea on 6 September 1909. The crew reported that many fishing vessels in the far north were detained in rivers and harbors due to foul weather.

On 6 September 1912, the Ottilie Fjord arrived in San Francisco 16 days from the Bering Sea, the schooner lost both anchors in two separate storms. From here there’s a dip in the number of mentions of the Ottilie Fjord in the historical newspaper record. Presumably, the vessel continued its use hauling lumber down the West Coast and Hawaii. The ship was still operating in the time of steamships and therefore aging wooden sailing schooners like Ottilie Fjord were no longer the focus.

On 24 September 1917 had arrived in San Francisco from Apia, Samoa where the captain had no updates concerning the missing schooner R.C. Slade along with word about many vessels homeported in San Francisco that had gone missing. These vessels were operating in the Pacific at the height of the Great War along with German commerce raiders. As it turns out the schooner R.C. Slade was one of the victims of the infamous German commerce raider SMS Seeadler. The information the captain did have was the Ottilie Fjord encountered a dismasted burning hulk off of Fanning Island or Tabuaeran Island that he had believed to be the barkentine Beluga which left San Francisco to Sydney, Australia with a cargo of case oil for the Standard Oil Company. The Beluga had also been attacked by the German commerce raider Wolf. However, there could have been a mistake as the Beluga was reportedly attacked and sunk off of Lord Howe Island thousands of miles south and not Tabuaeran Island. It was important at that time to bring some news to worried families. In 1918 Spedding and Stainton Limited sued Ottilie Fjord and Pacific States Trading Company for damaged cargo. On 22 July 1919, the Ottilie Fjord was the only ship that survived the tidal wave that hit Pangai, Tonga. Two years later on 4 August 1921 a $20,000 suit was filed against the Pacific States Trading Company by the Merchant’s Tugboat Company for salvage of Ottilie Fjord which had run aground in heavy fog at night at Fort Point while attempting to enter San Francisco. The vessel was pulled off with 16 inches of water in the hull.

The Voyages of the Nanuk

After the suit in 1922, the Ottilie Fjord would be sold to Captain C.T. Pederson and the Northern Whaling & Trading Company. The Ottilie Fjord‘s new role was sailing to Siberia to bring furs, ivory, and blubber back to the United States. On 26 November 1923, the vessel returned to San Francisco with its “million dollar” cargo, and Captain Pedersen would bring his wife with him to serve as part of the crew. Captain Pederson would keep the name for one voyage, but to reflect its new role sailing in arctic waters, the vessel was renamed Nanuk. On 8 October 1924 Nanuk returned to Oakland, California from another fur trade voyage with a cargo valued at $100,000 minus the $2,200 fine to the Soviet government. Pederson also used these lucrative voyages to supply food to hundreds of inhabitants in the far north who otherwise would have starved. What Pedersen, the Northern Whaling & Trading Company, and others of his ilk were doing at the time was illegal, the fine was for unlicensed trade with Soviet citizens without the bureaucratic permission of the Soviet government. In fact, the first people they had traded with on this voyage after making a transaction immediately turned around and gave Captain Pedersen the fine. The size of this fine was compounded due to conducting the same business in 1923. With as much revenue as these Arctic cruises stood to make, the Soviet fine was a drop in the bucket. Pedersen had also returned with two polar bears he had captured that he hoped to sell to local zoos. On 5 August 1924, it was reportedly imprisoned by Soviet soldiers on the coast of Siberia and had his cargo valued at $20,000 looted by the soldiers. Sometime in 1924-1925, Captain Pedersen added an oil engine to the Nanuk. On 14 October 1925, the Nanuk would return with a fur cargo valued at $270,000 the largest cargo of furs ever brought into the port of San Francisco. With the news of this rich cargo, the newspapers of the time were again sure to note that Mrs. Pedersen took a full share of the sailing duties.

In 1927 the Nanuk would be sold to Olaf Swenson of the Swenson Fur Trading Company where she would continue voyages to Siberia for fur. The Nanuk would depart Seattle on its next voyage on 24 June 1927 and would return from its fur trading voyage on 10 September 1927. At this time it was reported that Swenson Fur Trading Company had a five-year contract with the Soviet State Trading Company. On 6 October 1928, the USCGC Northland answered a distress call from the Nanuk after the craft was disabled after having its rudder and propeller broken by the force of grinding arctic ice, the Nanuk was two weeks into its voyage.

The Eielson Incident

In November of 1929, the Nanuk would be trapped in ice off of Cape North, now called Cape Schmidt, Siberia. Swenson and the crew had contracted with arctic pilot Carl Ben Eielson, “the flying explorer of the Arctic”. On 9 November 1929, Eielson was going to take some of the crew and cargo off of the ice-bound schooner and deliver some much-needed supplies after already making one successful trip to the Nanuk. While making the second trip Carl Eielson and his mechanic Earl Borland disappeared after taking off from Teller, Alaska. This would compound the losses after the Swenson Fur Trading Company lost its other schooner Elisif also caught in ice off the coast of Siberia. The Elisif‘s crew made it to Little Diomede Island and was picked up by the USCGC Northland earlier in August 1929. The search for Eielson and Borland began on 20 November with Nanuk sending its engineer on a dog sled to search for the missing pilot, other Arctic bush pilots began the air search for the missing plane. The search was constantly hampered by the harsh weather conditions of the dark Arctic winter. A trip to bring the rest of the crew of the Nanuk home was not completed until a month later on 20 December. The Fairchild Aviation Company would ship a team of three factory fresh planes aboard the USCGC Chelan to aid in the search on 30 December 1929. Pilots began using the Nanuk as a central base of operations to continue searching for Eielson and Borland and the Soviet government would send their own searchers on dog sleds from the steamer Stavropol along with their own search planes to aid the search in January 1930. After months of searching, the wreckage of Eielson’s plane was finally located on 24 January 1930 roughly 90 miles due south of the Nanuk. Eielson and Borland had crawled out through a hole in the wreckage. It was believed they wandered aimlessly dazed from the wreck before succumbing to their injuries. On 13 February 1930, Soviet searchers from the Stavropol would find the body of Earl Borland and Ben Eielson’s body would be located days later on 18 February. Eielson’s Pilot friends brought his body back to the U.S. for burial and there was a massive funeral procession of aircraft including the soviet searchers for the flight home. Nanuk would eventually be freed from the ice returning to Nome, Alaska, and then finally to Seattle on 14 August 1930. This would be the last fur trading voyage of the Nanuk. After its harrowing ordeal, the Nanuk would be chartered by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1932 where it would sail to Point Barrow, Alaska, and once again be frozen in again for the filming of Eskimo. After a year of filming, Swenson would sell the Nanuk to MGM on 8 July 1933. Nanuk would return to Seattle from filming Eskimo on 2 September 1933 and then to Los Angeles on 21 September 1933 where it was planned that the ship was going to be tied up at Craig Shipyards of Long Beach. Nanuk had taken a trip from San Pedro to San Francisco 22 March 1934.

“The Hispaniola is, to me, a crafty old codger. A veteran of Arctic seas, the hull dips into the waves carefully as though feeling the way.” actor Lewis Stone, star of Treasure Island. Los Angeles Daily News. 24 August 1934.

Hispaniola / HMS Pandora Conversion

At this point, the history of the Nanuk grows much more obscure. Before starring as the HMS Pandora in the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty, the Nanuk was converted at Craig Shipyards into the pirate ship Hispaniola for the 1934 MGM production of Treasure Island based on the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. The Hispaniola was described as brown with cedar sides and a hull 14 inches thick with a pine deck. MGM had spent $40,000 on the conversion and making the vessel seaworthy. Like the Bounty, the Nanuk as the Hispaniola, had a complete miniature film studio inside. Down below, the vessel had a generator, sound recording apparatus, lights, sound, cameras, and film developing plant. When the vessel was being used for scenes on the high seas, the Hispaniola had a small tug consort that carried an additional generator connected to the vessel via a waterproof cable.

Apparently, the pirate ship Hispaniola had caused quite a stir as many Oaklandites would come down to visit the pirate ship. This caused such a problem for the movie production was forced to move the ship further offshore for shooting. They didn’t want to film unwanted mob scenes and the crowd ignored signs to Stay Out or Keep Quiet and swarmed over fences, gates, and barriers. This became such a problem that police were called to disperse the crowds on 5 April 1934. For the production of Treasure Island off the Coast of Catalina Island, it was the sole duty of some of the crew to catch fish, cut them up, and nail them to boards around the ship to attract seagulls for better backgrounds. The Production company would covertly keep the Hispaniola in a “quiet cove” at Emerald Bay on Catalina Island. Soon after filming, the Hispaniola was slated to star as the HMS Pandora in Mutiny on the Bounty. As the Nanuk had already been redressed, it did not take much work nor cost as much to recondition the vessel as the HMS Pandora. Nanuk was taken to the Wilmington Boat Works for its conversion to the HMS Pandora. With work converting both Lily and Nanuk it was said the Wilmington Boat works had taken on the atmosphere of an 18th Century shipyard. Chances are good that Nanuk‘s conversion does not resemble the historic Pandora. The conversion from Nanuk to HMS Pandora did not have nearly as much pomp and circumstance as the Lily conversion to the Bounty. The Pandora conversion was completed before the launch of the Bounty as the celebratory lunch for the launching of the Bounty was held aboard the HMS Pandora on 14 August 1934. Another provocative piece of evidence that confirms the identity of the HMS Pandora was formerly the Nanuk is the image below from the Los Angeles Maritime Museum which shows the Pandora and Bounty together the HMS Pandora still has the name board Nanuk on the side of the vessel.

The last piece of evidence is that Nanuk is the only vessel officially listed in Lloyd‘s as owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer until at least 1941. It would be the only vessel listed as owned by MGM. Proving the identity of the Pandora is important because some other sources also cite the aforementioned schooner Metha Nelson as being the reconditioned HMS Pandora. Once the HMS Bounty was ready, the two vessels would travel together to Tahiti for the filming of the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty.

What Became of the Pandora?

After filming, the HMS Pandora ended up in the same place as the HMS Bounty moored at the entrance to Long Beach Harbor at the end of Water Street. Some sources would also mistake the Nanuk/Pandora‘s identity as being that of the schooner Metha Nelson. (More on the Metha Nelson later). Additionally, it would also be speculated that the Pandora would be mistaken for the Bounty and the alleged shipwreck along the new breakwater for Long Beach Harbor mentioned earlier was really the wreck of the Pandora after it finally succumbed to the elements after being left out in for so long. Both outcomes for the Pandora are incorrect. According to Lloyds Register of Shipping, the Nanuk remained moored and property of MGM until at least 1941. John Lyman reports that by 26 July 1941, Nanuk was still moored in Long Beach Habor alongside the Bounty. According to Lloyd’s, by at least 1946, the Nanuk formerly the Pandora was sold to the Cia Naviera Nacional del Pacifico or Pacific National Shipping Company and was homeported out of Salina Cruz, Mexico. All the masts were removed presumably along with all the HMS Pandora accouterments and the Nanuk was now an oil-powered wooden motor ship presumably working as a freighter. By 1952 Lloyd’s would list Nanuk as working for the Mexican government under the same name until it disappeared from Lloyd’s in 1960. What the Mexican government used the vessel for and its ultimate disposition are unknown. However, by 1960, the Nanuk was 68 years old, which is very old for a wooden schooner.

Metha Nelson the False Bounty

Throughout this blog post, I have mentioned that another ship named the Metha Nelson has been mistaken for the HMS Bounty or the HMS Pandora. It’s uncertain where this confusion comes from and where or whom could be pointed at for making the mistake, but that mistake persists in the historical record, which is beautiful in a way. I know this blog post is already getting long, believe me, I know, but I would be remiss if I did not tell the story of another schooner turned movie star, the Metha Nelson, sometimes incorrectly listed as “Matha Nelson” and perhaps make an attempt to get to the bottom of the confusion and as usual, set the record straight. The Metha Nelson was built in 1896, also at Bendixen Shipbuilding Company, owned by Hans Ditlev Bendixsen of Fairhaven/Eureka, California. Metha Nelson was a wooden three-masted schooner 156 feet long, 36 feet in breadth, and 11 feet 9 inches in depth, 460 Gross tons. Metha Nelson was also built as a work-a-day lumber schooner but with its large size and a third mast was meant for more international trade rather than coastal trade. It is said that the vessel received its name from the wife of its first captain and the name became a sore point as Captain Nelson’s wife Metha had died. On 19 July 1896, not long after being launched the Metha Nelson was loading redwood lumber destined for Melbourne, Australia, and returning from Newcastle, Australia with a cargo of coal. The vessel would complete its first round trip from Hawaii on 27 March 1897 later on 17 October 1897, the Metha Nelson would sail for Sydney, Australia with a cargo of lumber from Eureka, California.

On 19 February 1900, Captain Rice, the then Captain of the Metha Nelson reported that on the return journey from Kauai, Hawaii with a cargo of sugar, the schooner had encountered a monster waterspout while off of Point Reyes. From otherwise fair conditions, the sky suddenly turned dark and the sea began to boil, and a waterspout formed and was headed directly toward the schooner where it suddenly shifted direction away from the Metha Nelson last minute. Still, the sudden change in the wind tossed and pitched the schooner and caused the spanker boom (the boom on the last or third mast) to snap. Fortunately, that was all the damage the Metha Nelson would sustain. On 17 December 1900, Metha Nelson would arrive in Maui, Hawaii after departing San Francisco on 22 November and make its return voyage on 17 January 1901 arriving in Eureka, California on 25 January 1901. On 29 January Metha Nelson would be loading general merchandise in Eureka for Honolulu, Hawaii. The last bit of cargo is Metha Nelson had a small steam tugboat the Leslie Baldwin loaded onto its deck for a voyage to Maui, Hawaii where the little tug was going to be used to bring ships and sugar barges into the bay. It must have been a strange sight to behold, a schooner with a tugboat strapped to its decks. On 19 May 1901, the Metha Nelson departed Eureka, in tow of the steamer Noyo with a cargo due at Freemantle, Australia. On 7 June 1901, the Metha Nelson was loading a cargo of redwood lumber at Carson’s Wharf in Eureka, California for a departure to Freemantle, Australia on 8 June 1901. It was the first Australian Cargo of 1901 and Captain J.L. Christenson was in command. On 4 June 1902, the vessel was loading a cargo of lumber at Gray’s Harbor for Hilo, Hawaii.

Metha Nelson departed Los Angeles empty for a cargo of sugar from Hawaii on 29 March 1903. After returning from that voyage, on 14 May 1903, the Metha Nelson was sailing from Eureka California to Topolobampo, Mexico with a load of lumber. On 26 May the vessel would make a similar voyage (or the same) from San Francisco, stopping at Eureka to pick up a load of lumber for Topolobampo. On 3 June 1903, had loaded lumber ties for another (or the same voyage) for Topolobampo. The Metha Nelson would depart on 9 June 1903 and return on 16 August 1903. On 30 August, Thomas Walter a sailor aboard the Metha Nelson was taken to Sequoia Hospital after being assaulted late at night on Second Street in Eureka. He was hit in the head with a stone. On 24 October 1903, the vessel was towed to Eureka to take aboard another cargo of redwood lumber for Topolobampo on the 31 of October the Metha Nelson was towed again by the Tug Ranger from the Railroad Wharf in Eureka to the Bayside Mill wharf to load more redwood lumber. The vessel would complete its cargo of lumber at Bayside Mill on 1 November 1903 and sailed for Topolobampo on 2 November with the lumber and a crate of electrical equipment. After releasing the Metha Nelson, the tug Ranger rescued some of the burning tug Peerless and towed the burning hulk to be beached in the bay near the Humboldt Bay Lifesaving Station. On 10 April 1904, the Metha Nelson departed Los Angeles for San Francisco.

On 12 October 1904, Metha Nelson carried a different cargo, it had arrived from Siberian waters with 223,000 codfish. The vessel encountered several storms on its return voyage and lost its mainsails and foresails. Later in October, on October 30 1904 Metha Nelson departed from San Francisco to Gray’s Harbor. On 30 June 1905, the schooner would load general cargo in San Francisco for Hawaii. On 26 September 1905 was anchored off the Occidental wharf in Eureka to take a cargo of ties for Mexico after arriving from San Francisco. The last voyage was to Hawaii with a cargo of lumber and returned with a cargo of sugar. The night before while being towed into Eureka by the tug Ranger the crew of the Metha Nelson rescued fisherman William Ryan after his boat had capsized. On 28 September, the schooner would begin loading another cargo of redwood lumber and depart again for Topolobampo and Matazlan, Mexico on 14 October 1905. During the return trip on 9 January 1906, the Metha Nelson arrived in San Francisco a little earlier than scheduled due to the ship running out of food and provisions. During its return voyage, on 2 December the ship ran into a winter gale that lasted two weeks. After sailing further north, the winds had shifted bringing the ship into another winter gale which split the mainsail and washed the deck from stem to stern. Fighting all these storms wore down the supply of food for the crew. The Metha Nelson would arrive back in Eureka on 16 January 1906.

On 31 January the schooner would be taking on a cargo of lumber again at the Occidental Wharf in Eureka. On 28 June 1906, the Metha Nelson would bring a cargo of lumber from Gray’s Harbor to Eureka. On 9 March 1907, the schooner would sail for Hilo, Hawaii from Hoquiam, Washington. Later on 24 May 1907, the vessel would return to San Francisco to load a cargo of Barley, Hay, Bran, fertilizer, plows, oil, gasoline, rope, hardware, nails, pipe, and bars of steel for Mahukona, Hawaii. This cargo was valued at $9,264. Metha Nelson would depart San Francisco to Eureka to pick up the rest of its cargo of redwood lumber valued at $6,253 and arrive in Eureka on 26 May 1907. The Metha Nelson would depart for Hawaii on 8 June 1907. The schooner would return to Eureka from San Francisco on 20 August 1907. On 27 August the ship was again loading a cargo of lumber this time for Chili additionally, the schooner loaded two iron bull donkeys built at the Eureka foundry for a South American lumber company. On 18 December 1907, the Metha Nelson departed San Francisco for Everett, Washington, and was forced immediately to come about and return after running into a heavy gale off of Point Reyes where the waves turned into mountains. The storm had once again torn away its head sails and the vessel returned to San Francisco on 22 December 1907. On 15 February 1908, the vessel was discharging lumber in San Pedro, California, and was set to take on a cargo of lumber in the Puget Sound for Tonga. On 10 October 1908, the Metha Nelson after returning to San Francisco reported witnessing a new island form after an earthquake and volcanic eruption near the island of Vauva near Tonga.

After returning from the same voyage, the first mate of the Metha Nelson Charles Osborne was charged with mutiny and inciting the crew to mutiny. He was charged by the then captain John Jacobsen. Osborne had been under arrest and confined to quarters for most of the voyage back from Tonga since 12 September. Apparently, Captain Jacobsen felt afraid for his life and slept with a loaded revolver. Similar to the historical mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty, when the Metha Nelson stopped in Tonga, two of its crew members had left the ship to “set up housekeeping” with two local women. Each of these crew members was captured and brought back to the ship in irons. Osborne had protested the irons as he thought it was unnecessarily cruel. Conflict between Osborne and Jacobsen came to a climax when while underway, two crew were aloft making repairs to the sails and rigging with Osborne overseeing the work. Captain Jacobsen had asked impatiently how long the repairs were going to take to which Osborne responded with abject rage or the “plain, unvarnished vernacular of the sea”. Osborne admitted to using foul language towards his captain, but not threatening his life, he would say that he excited Captain Jacobsen’s ire when he wasn’t working nimbly enough aloft for the Captain’s liking. It seems like the charges were quickly dropped and the ship resumed normal operations.

On 29 October 1908, the Metha Nelson arrived in Eureka from California and had to wait at anchor to await fumigation before loading a cargo of lumber. The vessel had left San Francisco on 19 October a few days before the orders doing away with the fumigation requirement were repealed. Its previous cargo from Tonga was Copra or dried sections of coconut meat. The fumigation would be completed the same day. Apparently after dealing with the “mutiny” Captain Jacobsen had either left or taken a leave of absence as the Captain of this voyage was listed as Captain Jansen (unless that’s a mistake). The vessel was carrying hoisting engines on the deck which needed repairs at the Knight’s Wharf in Eureka. After which the vessel was due to take on another cargo of redwood lumber for Mexico. On 5 November the vessel was again loading lumber at Arcata Wharf, loading took several days and once loading was completed, Metha Nelson was listed as the only sailing vessel remaining in the harbor. Metha Nelson was slated to depart on 18 November but rough seas over the bar getting out kept the vessel inside of Eureka harbor and would finally depart Eureka in tow of the tug Ranger on 27 November 1908. Metha Nelson returned to Eureka on 29 December 1909 after arriving from Tahiti and Papeete, French Polynesia. After loading another cargo of lumber at Arcata Wharf in Eureka on 15 January 1910 the Metha Nelson would depart for Gray’s Harbor on 16 January 1910. After departing Gray’s Harbor, the schooner would sail to San Pedro, California arriving on 29 January. On 3 February 1910, the Metha Nelson was lying in its slip in San Pedro where it was noted that “Windjammers have been more in evidence generally the last few days than steamers.” On 11 November the schooner returned to Bendixsen Shipbuilding Company to have a mast replaced and placed into position. By 24 November 1910, the Metha Nelson was again in Eureka loading a cargo of redwood lumber for Mexico departing on 26 November 1910. On the return trip from Guaymas, Mexico the schooner had to put into San Francisco for repairs before carrying onto Eureka.

Alaska Packers Association

On 24 March 1911, the Metha Nelson was sold to the Alaska Packer’s Association. The San Francisco-based Alaska Packer’s Association was once the largest salmon cannery and was known for operating the last fleets of sailing ships. Salmon packing was a seasonal industry and the Alaska Packers Association would buy up every available sailing ship to transport workers from California to Alaska including the Metha Nelson. Outdated sailing ships like the Metha Nelson were chosen specifically by the APA because at this time deep into the transition from sail to steam, wooden sailing ships were cheaper to purchase and operate. The APA had wanted to convert the Metha Nelson into a cold storage vessel to transport fresh salmon from Alaska but the state of California had prohibited such importation of fish before the Metha Nelson went into service and the vessel would be used to transport canned salmon from Alaska like the rest of the fleet. The 1916 haul of Salmon was apparently leaner and some ships of the fleet were given other tasks including the Metha Nelson which was chartered by Balfour Guthrie and Company chartered the schooner back into the lumber trade and it carried lumber from the Puget Sound south to Talara Bay in Peru on 7 September 1916. On 5 May 1917, the Alaska Packers Association Captain Charles Larsen died while the ship was underway to Bristol Bay and was given a burial at sea. On 28 March 1919, Metha Nelson would receive another captain Adolph Schultz who previously captained the Revenue Cutter Argonaut.

On 8 April 1919 while en route from Valparaíso, Chile the crew of the Metha Nelson had sighted a four-masted schooner apparently abandoned on 8 March about 300 miles south of Clipperton Island in the South Pacific. They had wired after the ship arrived at Townsend, Washington. On 6 September 1919, Metha Nelson would be the first ship of the APA’s fleet to return to San Francisco with no fish. Captain Schultz would report that other ships had no luck on the Alaska fishing grounds. Other ships would arrive with either no catch or a small catch of fish. On 30 April 1920, Metha Nelson would have a change of masters from Adolph Schultz to Jules De Sassise. On 4 August 1920, the schooner would sail from Bristol Bay for San Francisco. On 29 April 1922, Metha Nelson would have another change in command to Captain J. Krinkle. 1926 was a good fishing year for the APA with newspapers reporting that the Salmon Pack had reached its old status and the Metha Nelson had sailed again from Bristol Bay with a cargo hold filled with canned salmon on 12 August 1926. That would be the schooner’s last voyage in the salmon trade. In 1928 the Metha Neslon was chartered as a tender to the Cape San Lucas tuna fleet.

The Sea Wolf

On 6 June 1930, the Metha Nelson would begin its film career after being bought from the Alaska Packer’s Association by Fox Film Corporation after spending time tied up at the Alaska Packer’s Association plant in Alameda, California. The vessel was bought a week before in May 1930 and was overhauled at Moore Shipyard of Oakland, California. The work included the installation of an engine, oil tanks, and lights for $25,000. However later it was reported that the Metha Nelson was purchased for $7,500 and another $50,000 was spent in refitting the ship. The vessel apparently caught a lot of attention. The Metha Nelson was used for filming The Sea Wolf based on the Jack London novel of the same name. The Metha Nelson starred as the Ghost alongside the former USRC Bear as the Macedonian. Apparently, director Alfred Santell had stressed knowledge of Sea Chanteys as a prerequisite for selecting the crew aboard the Ghost as he felt that Sea Chanteys were rapidly disappearing and should be preserved in film. On 4 November, the Metha Nelson left Mare Island Navy Yard after being outfitted with a 3-inch deck gun which was concealed by a collapsible deck house. It was filmed with the submarine S-47 playing a German U-boat. This was for the 1931 film The Seas Beneath.

On 18 November 1931, there was a contested award for an alleged injury aboard the Metha Nelson that dated back to 1931. Compensation fraud was filed against Capt. Frank Weideman and Warren H. Pillsbury by the Alaska Packer’s Union. The charge was that Capt. Weideman was aboard the Metha Nelson docked in the Oakland Estuary without summons to do so and an award for $2,550 compensation for injuries he received after he fell down a hatchway while aboard was illegally made. Weideman stated he was summoned while he was a watchman aboard the Star of Shetland. He stated he was summoned aboard to take certain measurements of the hold of the Metha Nelson while the company claimed another man did this work. The Alaska Packer’s Association was fighting this compensation claim because Weideman was not an employee at the time of the accident.

On 25 October 1932 while filming at Isthmus Cove at Santa Catalina Island one of the crew Frank Murphy of the Metha Nelson was stricken with appendicitis in the middle of a storm with 50 mph winds which had blown the yawl Vinnete ashore also at Isthmus Cove. The Coast Guard patrol boat CG 258 and Boatswain John Donley were sent from San Pedro, California to battle through the storm to bring Murphy to the Hospital in San Pedro. As it turns out it was not appendicitis but gastric ulcers. At some point in the Metha Nelson’s latter career, the schooner was outfitted with auxiliary diesel engines. On 1 September 1933, the schooner was modified at the Los Angeles Shipyard for carrying salt up and down the Mexican coast and departed on one of these voyages to Ensenada, Mexico on 18 December 1933.

“A Real Hell Ship”

For the latter part of the 1930s, the Metha Nelson would be owned by Phil Stanton and chartered out by various wealthy parties for adventure cruises. The first was a shark-hunting expedition on 22 May 1936 after the ship had a complete reduction plant installed.

The second voyage and the more publicized one was announced on 9 January 1937 by Fred Goodwin Dana and Walter E. Dana who were nephews of the author Richard Henry Dana Jr. who wrote the famous nautical memoir Two Years Before the Mast. On this cruise were also R. I. Gale and Calvin Bently retired industrialists. R.I. Gale had actually purchased the Metha Nelson for this purpose. The Metha Nelson was to sail for the Galapagos Islands and the Mexican coast on 20 January 1937 with sportsmen. The vessel was improved in various ways in 1936 including a bar, blue tile bathrooms, new dining and sleeping commodities, and new diesel engines. Each of the Dana’s had much respect for their forebear and hoped to vicariously live their ancestor’s story with this cruise. Another voyage was reported on 29 October 1938 as shrouded in mystery cruising to the Galapagos Islands taking penguins and eating Galapagos turtles. Apparently, there were rumors of mutiny from this voyage.

The next cruise sounds like a plot to a movie in of itself, there was a second mutiny aboard the Metha Nelson. On 10 September 1938, the Metha Nelson departed Long Beach, California for the Galapagos Islands, but the Metha Nelson would never make it that far. The passengers aboard were a group of Hollywood elite; it was chartered by Marino Bello, a con man with mob connections also known for being actress Jean Harlow’s stepfather. Also aboard was Bugsy Siegal -yes, that Bugsy Siegal the gangster, Countess Dorothy Di Frasso, Evelyn “Peggy” Husby, Bello’s fiancé, Richard E. Gully a scientist, Dr. Benjamin Blank, Richard Gulley, Charles Segal, Hollywood promoter, and Steward Abraham Kapellner among others. For this voyage, the Metha Nelson was captained by Robert Hoffman and crewed by boys they found from the National Youth Administration and whatever transients could be found on the Long Beach waterfront because they were the cheapest possible help. Though that was what was reported, the youngest member of the crew was 18 years old. They kept the noble sea tradition of Shanghaiing a crew alive. Out of a crew of twenty-two, only three had any prior sea experience.

The vessel was chartered for a wedding at sea between Marino Bello and Evelyn Husby, along with shark fishing and a treasure hunt for the fabled treasure of Cocos Island, off the coast of Costa Rica. Apparently, Bugsy Siegal and Countess Di Frasso were sold on the idea of treasure and were given dubious maps by a Canadian man named Bill Bowbeer. Additionally, reportedly, Bello was looking into whether shark fishing could be a profitable business venture, using the fins for food and their livers for vitamins. The Metha Nelson was not licensed to carry passengers so everyone aboard was considered a crew member and were all under the captain’s orders, all aboard were considered crew. Trouble for the Metha Nelson on this voyage began immediately as it collided both with another ship and the breakwater on its way out to sea. Apparently, neither suffered major damage. Three days into the voyage came the wedding of Bello and Husby with Captain Hoffman officiating. Hoffman began to grow frustrated with the inexperienced crew he had been given. The ship would eventually arrive at Cocos Island where the elite passengers spent several days treasure hunting where all they would find were shovels and picks left behind from other treasure-hunting efforts.

The ship would sail to Panama and Guatemala. Hoffman was having trouble with an unruly cruel and to subdue them Hoffman instituted the old sea traditions of corporal punishment. Boatswain Ralph Baarman and seaman Marion Bonilla were struck by Hoffman and placed in chains. While in Guatemala, Bonilla had gotten off the ship which apparently broke the rules, and was eating at a restaurant where Hoffman had burst in and smashed a plate full of food over his head. Hoffman brought Bonilla back to the ship confined him in the Metha Nelson‘s chain locker (where the anchor chain is stored) and shackled him to the anchor chain. The crew was also subjected to being clapped in irons or very public humiliations on the deck but the reporting does not state exactly what those humiliations were.

Ralph Baarman stated that Captain Hoffman had hit him in the back of the head with a chain so hard that he was knocked unconscious. Some of the guests did not witness these acts of brutality. Some guests left the ship, and Dr. Benjamin Blank got off in Panama. Others had challenged the brutality of Captain Hoffman. The aforementioned Charles Segal and Abraham Kapellner had stood up to his treatment of the crew and much like today would claim that Captain Hoffman was a Nazi Antisemite and he was beating certain members of the crew because they were Jewish. They would also state that they were mistreated because they were Jewish and Hoffman was German (Which, illustrates just how much the public at large knew in 1938-39). Hoffman would later vehemently deny this. Segal and Kapellner would get off the ship in San Jose, Guatemala, and get a ride back to the United States aboard the Italian liner Cellina. According to Hoffman, Segal, and Kapellner were troublemakers drunk and disorderly the entire voyage. Hoffman would state that he only had radioed the US Consulate in Guatemala to ask if the two could be let off in San Jose.

After departing San Jose both the Cellina and Metha Nelson would encounter a monstrous storm with 72 Mph winds in the Gulf of Tehauntepec off the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Cellina had found the Metha Nelson in distress, the ship was floating helplessly with tattered sails and had fired off a few distress flares. Apparently, in addition to tattered and damaged sails, the ship had broken a winch, suffered an engine malfunction, and the propeller shaft had broken. The Cellina had taken the stricken schooner in tow and brought the crew aboard. This is where Segal and Kapellner encountered Hoffman again and they figured that Hoffman had radioed back to California to accuse the two men of Mutiny. Which, again Hoffman would deny. The Cellina towed the Metha Nelson as far as Acapulco, Mexico. As soon as the Cellina put into port, both Segal and Kapellner were immediately arrested and thrown in jail after being charged with mutiny.

This charge touched off an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and resulted in a federal grand jury case into the allegations of mutiny. The trial was held in December 1938 and January 1939. This case was a circus with everyone giving conflicting testimony. Countess Di Frasso was apparently made very uncomfortable by Bugsy Siegal during the whole voyage. However, there was apparently some confusion between Segal and Seigal. Some would say Bugsy Seigal or was it Segal? made himself the de facto captain. Marino Bello would declare the allegations of mutiny “a pack of lies!”. Hoffman would also state that he had two women to protect from such a ravenous and unruly crew and that Ralph Barrman had drunkenly threatened everyone aboard with a gun for three days before Hoffman subdued him and that he had to subdue him. Some crew would say that Marino Bello had fought a duel with a Costa Rican Army Colonel over his new bride, Evelyn Husby. Still, others would say that the crew was not this unruly mob as Hoffman had portrayed and that although green, they weren’t threatening. The U.S. and Mexican governments had suspected the Metha Nelson was being used for drug smuggling or gun running. There was apparently an undercover “G-man” aboard posing as crew. In any case, Segal and Kapellner were found innocent of the charges of mutiny and let go. The case was dismissed and the combined testimony of everyone proved insufficient for the jury to return indictments. Segal and Kapellner pursued legal recourse for their imprisonment and the crew had to file to get their wages and had to engage with a lawyer to file libel against the Metha Nelson to secure wages. The chief engineer had to consult with another lawyer to file over losing his right eye during an engine room mishap, presumably from the breaking of the propeller shaft. Nobody knows what really happened aboard the Metha Nelson in the fall of 1939. It would be recalled later that Bugsy Siegel went to Cocos Island to Deliver supplies to gangster Lepke Burchalter who was then hiding on the island but this was only conjecture.

During the trial, the Metha Nelson limped back to Long Beach Harbor arriving on 10 January 1939 after breaking down 30 miles south of the harbor. After first being dropped off in Acapulco, Mexico on 24 November 1938 by the Cellina. The Metha Nelson had to be towed the rest of the way. The vessel was docked at the Seventh Street bulkhead in Long Beach, and as soon as docked FBI agents swarmed aboard searching for evidence of any kind for the trial. On 11 February 1939, R.I. Gale sold the Metha Nelson to film producer Bernard Luber, for MGM the Metha Nelson had returned to work as a film ship and the vessel was towed to Craig shipyards for repairs and to be refit for her new role, as the engines were scrap iron. The schooner was re-rigged as a full-rigged ship for Frank Lloyd’s film Rulers of the Seas as the Falcon. Apparently, the masts were raised too tall for effect for the film, and even a moderate blow could cause the ship to capsize. Once again director Frank Lloyd had to wait for a suitable storm to film the ships in. The Metha Nelson also appears briefly in the 1938 film Too Hot to Handle.

Historical Incongruity

It is this point in Metha Nelson’s history that accounts for the later confusion that this schooner was the star of the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty as the HMS Bounty or the HMS Pandora. The vessel had gained notoriety for being centered around a “Mutiny” therefore people had begun to associate the ship with a mutiny and Mutiny on the Bounty was also a famous mutiny in the public consciousness from the film. further confusion comes from the fact the two hero ships who had starred in the movie were also from Long Beach and moored and were also refinished at Craig Shipyards. Adding to the Metha Nelson’s identity crisis, on 6 June 1941, producer Frank Lloyd who had previously produced Mutiny on the Bounty used the Metha Nelson to star as the Tonquin for the 1941 film This Woman is Mine based on the 1932 novel I, James Lewis by Gilbert W. Gabriel where again the ship was the center of a mutiny, this time over a woman stowaway. This would be the last film the Metha Nelson would ever star in. Furthering the confusion, when the Navy was looking for ships to use for the war effort, they had looked at the Pandora, Bounty, the Metha Nelson, and the Golden State apparently all moored together at the end of West Water Street. The reason why they had garnered naval interest, to begin with, was that each was powered with a diesel engine for its film career. All of these factors combine to account for the historical confusion that Metha Nelson had starred in Mutiny on the Bounty. Adding further to the confusion the same newspaper source had reported it both ways the San Pedro News Pilot first reported Old Sailing Ship Handles War Job on 17 May 1945 describing the Metha Nelson as the former Bounty and its service in WWII which is covered in the next section. But the San Pedro News Pilot on 25 July 1946 also reported Movie Ship Converted describes Lily as being in the leading role of Mutiny on the Bounty. In this article they even reported a correction:

“The schooner Lily for that is her true name” San Pedro News Pilot. 25 July 1946

Earlier than that on 15 August 1934, at the announcement of the launch of the Bounty, the San Pedro News Pilot had reported that the Pandora was formerly the Metha Nelson. So perhaps the reason for this historical confusion is mistaken newspaper editors which had extended to all of the resources on the 1935 HMS Bounty.

The USS Metha Nelson

“The realism of today eclipses the fiction of yesterday.” The Long Beach Sun, 31 March 1942.

On 11 June 1942, the Metha Nelson was sold from MGM to the US Navy, the then 46-year-old wooden schooner was going to serve in WWII. One of the unlikeliest ships to be drafted into military service. The vessel was once again reconditioned for military service at Craig Shipyards, Long Beach, California. The ship was said to be outfitted with a pair of 320 HP diesel engines, it’s unknown if this was the previous engine modification or if this was specifically the navy engine modification. The ship would have its Hollywood accouterments removed along with its central mainmast and a pilothouse with a signal bridge was added forward. It was noted that the magnetic compass that the Metha Nelson carried was made in Tokyo, Japan. The schooner was rechristened the USS Metha Nelson and given the Navy ID Number (IX-74), IX means Miscellaneous Ship. The USS Metha Nelson was placed in service on 25 September 1943. The USS Metha Nelson was given the role of inspection vessel and pilot boat. Moored just outside Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbor, this vessel would be anchored in position to inspect every vessel going into and coming out of Long Beach and Los Angeles and was anchored three miles off the breakwater. This type of job was usually relegated to lightships that could no longer operate on station due to the dangers of the war. They were inspecting the cargo for contraband or sabotage; anything that would be helping the Third Reich or the Empire of Japan. A pilot boat means that it would have a pilot aboard who would get on ships going into the harbor who knew the harbor really well and take over steering the ship to its final destination. The vessel also took Navy pilots aboard. The USS Metha Nelson was commanded by Lt. Leo P. O’Brien, and Lt. JG. L.R. Hugg USNR was the Executive Officer and the ship had a crew of thirty-two African American Sailors. The crew reported that the only place they go is up and down with the waves. The USS Metha Nelson would be placed out of service on 25 September 1945 and would be struck from the naval register on 24 October 1945.

Latter Days

The Metha Nelson returned to the War Shipping Administration a week later, where it was said to be sold back to its previous owner. This was incorrect, an assumption made in the past by the Dictionary of Naval Fighting Ships. The Metha Nelson was made ready for sale by the Maritime Commission on 14 September 1946. The vessel was initially purchased by Bob Lee who then sold it to Charles Derickson of Cooperative Marine Repairs who then sold it to Phil Stanton and Jack Luden. Metha Nelson was refit again at Cooperative Marine Repairs who then repowered the schooner with an 800 HP Diesel Engine. Booms and sails were re-installed on the schooner’s remaining two masts. Metha Nelson was going to return to her original role, hauling lumber for the Mexican lumber trade. On 12 January 1947, the Metha Nelson was moored in Los Angeles’ outer harbor where it survived a storm but the tug Storm King moored next to it was not so lucky, it was blown onto its side and sank stern first into a mud bank. Nearby the schooner F.S. Loop was also submerged. In August 1947 the vessel was once again being outfitted and another 450 HP Western Enterprise Diesel engine was said to be installed. Its owner Jack Luden stated that the Metha Nelson was as sound as it was 40 years prior. It seems like during this time, the Metha Nelson was used in odd hauling jobs around San Pedro. On 25 March 1948, the coast of southern California was hit with rain squalls with 32 mph winds. The Metha Nelson was nearly blown ashore at Daisy Avenue in Long Beach, the anchor had dragged and the vessel was within 300 feet of the beach. Nearly a month later on 29 April 1948, Metha Nelson was in a similar predicament, winds had torn the vessel from its anchor off of Long Beach and had blown to Seal Beach, California.

At this point in its career, the Metha Nelson began to run into trouble. After apparently sitting at Berth 7 in the outer Long Beach Harbor, the vessel accrued a $20 tax bill that grew to $429.62 due to both the City and the County. On 13 October 1948, the City of Long Beach unsuccessfully attempted to auction off the vessel for the cost of its taxes. The vessel had overstayed its welcome, as it was in the way of building an extension of Pier B. It was moved to an anchorage off the beach where the aforementioned storm pushed the vessel closer to dry land where at low tide it appeared the vessel was laying on the bottom. Much like the Falls of Clyde also discussed on this blog, it was feared that another storm would make the Metha Nelson into further menace. The strategy by the City of Long Beach was to seize the ship and put it up for auction, Tow bill from the anchorage to Berth 7 was $145.00 dockage was $3 daily, and the costs started accumulating.

The Metha Nelson eventually found a purchaser in James. M. Forbes. a boat landing employee for $550.00 who intended on taking the vessel to Los Angeles Harbor. On 2 May 1953, it was noted that the “Hell Ship” was still here in Long Beach at the East end of Consolidated Channel surrounded by old and abandoned craft. The Metha Nelson and the Golden State were the only two surviving windjammers in Long Beach at that time. There was a brief glimmer of hope for the old Metha Nelson as the then-nascent San Francisco Maritime Museum had asked the California State Park Commission to support a bill that would appropriate $200,000 for the restoration of historic vessels. At the time the San Francisco Maritime Museum was considering the C.A. Thayer, Wawona, Wapama, and the Metha Nelson. Though since little of its original fabric as a Historic California sailing schooner remained at the time, it’s no wonder why the Metha Nelson wasn’t chosen to be preserved. However, from these options, the C.A. Thayer is the only ship that remains preserved, the Wawona was scrapped in 2009 and the Wapama in 2013.

At some point, the Metha Nelson had found its way south to National City, California, and was moored at the National City waterfront for almost five years. Apparently, there was previously an illegal ship-breaking firm led by Robert Leslies that had gathered up old hulks for scrapping. Another firm led by Hugh E. “Blackie” Maranville developed in its place and he took over scrapping the hulks including the L.C. Simpson (also erroneously named as starring as the Bounty) as they were seen as a hindrance to further development of the National City waterfront. The Metha Nelson was the last ship to be scrapped and was blown to pieces with dynamite on 4 April 1957. However that does not always completely destroy a ship, there are plenty of wrecks that were “removed” in the same way by the Army Corps of Engineers as a hazard to navigation, that are still extant and still have archaeological integrity (or could still tell us something archaeologically).

“Probably if it weren’t for the screen presentations and research that is done for sea stories, much of the knowledge would fade out…it takes research to gather facts to reconstruct a ship.” Popular Mechanic’s June 1937

The Hollywood Shipbuilding Tradition

Taking old sailing ships and refurbishing them into older sailing ships is certainly a unique maritime tradition that unfolded in the early days of Hollywood. This is something that never occurred at any point preceding this time in history or after. In the course of this research, plenty of other vessels that became stars of the silver screen were discovered that certainly have their own stories to tell, and perhaps those will be explored further in a future blog post. Even the 1960 Bounty was a replica built from the keel up, not a shell built around an existing vessel. In the same way that an actor will put on a costume, makeup, and a new persona for the roles they play, these vessels were dressed up for their role. This unique maritime film tradition aided in both the preservation of these vessels and traditional shipbuilding knowledge. As we can see throughout the stories of these three schooners Lily, Nanuk, and Metha Nelson, three distinct waves aided in extending the usefulness, careers, and preservation of each of these vessels. The first wave of preservation was the Alaska Packers Association, as they had collected all of the aging, outdated vessels they could find for the Alaskan salmon trade, when they were finished with these ships they were returned to the backwaters of California where they were then found by the second wave of preservation in movie producers searching for a ship to use in their movie, each of these ships had a long film career. The final wave of preservation is really only applicable to the Lily, but all those wooden sailing ships still lying in backwaters in California were then taken and made into fishing barges to capitalize on recreational fishing. Another very unique maritime tradition.

I admit it when I began researching this blog post, I put the intellectual cart ahead of the horse. I had really thought that there was going to be a shipwreck at the end and as we have seen, there is no shipwreck. Only because at the outset, the fate of the first replica of the HMS Bounty for the 1935 production of Mutiny on the Bounty was such an open-ended question and many of the researchers who had previously engaged with this question presumed the vessel was sunk in some backwater in Long Beach, California. This blog post came the closest to offering the definitive answer of what happened to the first replica of the HMS Bounty, the vessel was converted into a fishing barge presumably serving in that role until the vessel could no longer or it was no longer profitable to do so. I wonder if anyone who fished from those decks had any idea of the barge’s film pedigree. It also answered a question nobody previously sought what became of the replica HMS Pandora also moored at Long Beach, well the vessel was sold to haul freight down in Mexico for the Mexican government until the vessel could no longer or it was no longer profitable to do so. Lastly, it attempted to solve the historical confusion as to why the schooner Metha Nelson was identified as the Bounty by even the United States Navy, the vessel was already associated with a “Mutiny” that made headline news, and the association stuck. I wonder about the story of the African American servicemen who served aboard the USS Metha Nelson. This blog post is quite the diversion from the 1960 Bounty, sunk ten years ago in superstorm Sandy, but it was a question worth answering. Stay tuned for Part 2. Also, stay tuned for another blog on the other movie ships Centennial and Santa Clara.

“The old wooden ships have a way of disappearing slowly, after sitting for years or even decades in the harbor where they receive a casual look from passersby and an occasional fond smile from an old sailor. ” Long Beach Press-Telegram 13 August 1950

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Independent. 18 May 1945

Imperial Valley Press. Renew Search For Aviators Lost in North. 9 December 1929

Imperial Valley Press. Prosecutor Lays Plans to Air Yacht Mutiny Story as Disabled Vessel Limps into Los Angeles Harbor. 10 January 1939

Imperial Valley Press. “Hell Ship” Skipper Tells Grand Jury He Beat Drunken Sailor With Chain After Three Days of Terrorism. 12 January 1939

Imperial Valley Press. Jean Harlow’s Step-Father Summoned to Give Inside Testimony of Hell Ship Cruise, Mutiny, Romance, and Wreck. 16 January 1939

Imperial Valley Press. Hell Ship Mutiny Charges Dropped by Grand Jurors. 19 January 1939

Kester, Frank. Old Schooner Nanuk Becomes Picture Actor. 8 July 1933

Klebingat, Fred. In Command of the Chinese Bark Chin Pu: Swifting the Rigging on Christmas Morning. Sea Letter. No 34. Winter 1983

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Lindstrom, Abigail & Ritchie, Nicholas. SEM-EDS of Artifacts from the HMAV Bounty Discovered at Pitcairn Island.

Lloyds Register of Shipping 1920 – 1960

Los Angeles Daily News. 13 August 1934

Los Angeles Daily News. 25 August 1934

Los Angeles Daily News. 12 December 1938

Los Angeles Evening Citizen. Movie Ship Metha Nelson, Checks Vessels Entering, Leaving L.A. Harbor. 17 May 1945

Los Angeles Evening Citizen. Navy’s Most Famous Windjammer Metha Nelson. 13 June 1945

Los Angeles Evening Express. 19 April 1922

Los Angeles Evening Express. 24 March 1922

Los Angeles Evening Express. 2 August 1922

Los Angeles Evening Express. 30 September 1922

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Los Angeles Evening Express. Heavy Talkie Program Underway at MGM. 18 September 1929

Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 7 June 1930

Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. Film Company Put on Run by Devotees. 5 April 1934

Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. Cinematters. 25 April 1934

Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. Launch Replica of Ship Bounty. 14 August 1934

Los Angeles Evening News. 17 May 1945

Los Angeles Herald. 14 January 1895

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Los Angeles Herald. Rescue Sailors Adrift for 2 Days in Boat. 28 March 1921

Los Angeles Times. Cameraman in Narrow Escape. 17 January 1935

Los Angeles Times. Bad Weather Defeated By “Mutiny on the Bounty” 22 June 1935

Los Angeles Times. Phantom Ship Sails Again. 21 July 1935

Long Beach Sun. Old and New Contrasted at Local Harbor. 10 December 1934

Long Beach Sun. Movie Vessels Return to Port. 4 July 1935

Long Beach Sun. 27 October 1937.

Long Beach Sun. Ship’s Officer Sharply Denies Mutiny Rumor. 29 October 1937

Long Beach Sun. 1 December 1938

Long Beach Sun. Film Ships Tie Up Here Awaiting Rougher Seas. 25 May 1939

Long Beach Sun. Two Replicas of Noted Craft Tied Up Here. 22 June 1940

Long Beach Sun. Famed Movie Fleet Due for Realistic War Role. 31 March 1942

Long Beach Press-Telegram. 8 October 1921

Long Beach Press-Telegram. 30 March 1922

Long Beach Press-Telegram 12 June 1922

Long Beach Telegram. Boat Builder Held in Rum Raid. 20 November 1923

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Coast Guard Ship Begins Search for Fast Rum Runners. 21 November 1923

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Vessel Will Be Used in Picture. 21 March 1934

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Replica of Mutiny Ship to be Launched Tuesday. 13 August 1934

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Frigate Model Being Made for Film H.M.S. Bounty; Movies Require Much Building of Vessels for Sets. 05 September 1935

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Old-Time Ship Replicas Noted. 2 July 1937

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Vessels Moored at Port Entrance. 2 July 1937

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Harbor Popular for Sea Film Making. 2 January 1940

*Long Beach Press-Telegram. Old Movie Ship, H.M.S. Bounty, Suffering Jostling by Tanker. 4 May 1945

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Tug, Storm Victim Lies in Mud Bank. 12 January 1947

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Troublous Trip Recalled by Outfitting of Ship. 30 August 1947

Long Beach Press-Telegram. City Gets $550 for Old Schooner. 8 October 1948

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Bids Lacking, Lien Rises on Romantic “Hell Ship”. 14 October 1948

Long Beach Press-Telegram. Junk Ships Vanish, Steel Replaces Wood. 13 August 1950

Lyman, John. The Alaska Packers, San Francisco. Sea Breezes. December 1934-January 1935

Lyman, John. Pacific Coast Built Sailers 1850-1905. The Marine Digest. 1 February 1941 – 18 April 1942

Lyman, John. The Painting of the Bounty. Ships & Ship Models Vol. 8 No. 94 June 1939

https://web.archive.org/web/20180807195542/http://www.winthrop.dk/bounty/lyman.html

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Magellan. The Ships Encyclopedia: Lily.

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Magellan. The Ships Encyclopedia: Ottilie Fjord.

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Maritime Compass: Alaska Packers Association Fleet List. 19 October 2011

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Mavity, Nancy Barr. British Merchantmen of 1750 Era Lies in Estuary. Oakland Tribune. 30 March 1934

Maxton, Donald A. Chasing the Bounty: The Voyages of the Pandora and Matavy

Morning Astorian. 9 Mary 1895

Morning Astorian. 30 April 1895

Morning Free Press. 4 October 1930

Morry, Don P. & Lima, James. Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment.

Monrovia News Pilot. 20 January 1936

Motion Picture Studio Insider. Scenes from the Harbor. Vol. 1 No. 0

National City Star News. Career of Famed Pacific 4 Master Ends at National City Waterfront. 4 April 1957

National Park Service. C.A. Thayer.

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Naval History and Heritage Command. Metha Nelson.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/metha-nelson.html

News Pilot. Craft Crashes into Rocks at Channel Island. 26 July 1935

New York Times. An Old Fin Ship of the Far North. 27 January 1929

New York Times Eielson. 19 November 1929

New York Times. Four Parties Scout Siberia for Nielson. 23 November 1929

New York Times. To Seek Eielson Today. 22 December 1929

New York Times. Reach North Cape in Hunt for Eielson. 23 December 1929

New York Times. Fliers Fight Cold to Hunt For Eielson. 30 December 1929

New York Times. Fails to Locate Eielson on Shore. 1 January 1930

New York Times. Dog Teams Seek Eielson on Shore. 3 January 1930

New York Times. Seek Plane Lost on Flight to Nome. 5 January 1930

New York Times. Eielson Searchers Hunt Lost Canadian. 6 January 1930

New York Times. Dog Driver Gets Clues to Eielson in Siberia. 9 January 1930

New York Times. Sleds in Peril, Hunting Eielson. 11 January 1930

New York Times. Search for Eielson Narrows in Siberia. 13 January 1930

New York Times. New Eielson Clue Offered in Siberia. 15 January 1930

New York Times. Canadian to Fly Today. 17 January 1930

New York Times. Moscow Cautious on Eielson Story. 18 January 1930

New York Times. Air Armada Heads for Eielson Quest. 19 January 1930

New York Times. Take Dogs in Plane on Eielson Search. 22 January 1930

New York Times. Dog Party Fails to Find Eielson. 24 January 1930

New York Times. Eielson Plane found a Wreck in Siberia. 27 January 1930

New York Times. Hunted for Eielson for Over Two Months. 27 January 1930

New York Times. Eielson’s Throttle Found Wide Open. 28 January 1930

New York Times. Girl on Nanuk “Veteran”. 28 January 1930

New York Times. Canadians Fly To Eielson Wreck. 29 January 1930

New York Times. Find Trapper Near Eielson’s Plane. 30 January 1930

New York Times. The Nanuk to Await Ice Break-Up. 1 February 1930

New York Times. Russian Aid Work at Eielson Wreck. 2 February 1930

New York Times. Will Stay on End to Eieleson Search. 1 February 1930

New York Times. Miss Senson Ends Exile. 9 February 1930

New York Times. Nanuk Gets Bodies of Eielson and Aide. 23 February 1930

New York Times. Girl of the Nanuk Home From Arctic. 2 March 1930

New York Times. Swenson Hials Rise of Flying in Arctic. 30 March 1930

New York Times. Nanuk Docks in Seattle. 4 August 1930

New York Times. On Filming “Eskimo”. 12 November 1933

New York Times. Silent Witness to a Mutiny is Pulled from Bounty Bay. 12 January 1999

NOAA. Shipwrecks of the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.

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Oakland Tribune. Boat Ashore off Honolulu. 8 October 1903

Oakland Tribune. 24 October 1909

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Oakland Tribune. 6 January 1917

Oakland Tribune. 14 February 1917

Oakland Tribune. 8 March 1917

Oakland Tribune. 16 March 1917

Oakland Tribune. 24 March 1917

Oakland Tribune. 5 April 1917

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Oakland Tribune. 24 December 1917

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Oakland Tribune. 24 April 1925

Oakland Tribune. 15 June 1927

Oakland Tribune. 24 June 1927

Oakland Tribune. 6 September 1927

Oakland Tribune. 6 October 1928

Oakland Tribune. 19 November 1929

Oakland Tribune. Fliers Renew Arctic Search for Lost Pal. 20 December 1929

Oakland Tribune. Fliers Fail to Find Eielson. 13 January 1930

Oakland Tribune. Arctic Wilderness Hides Missing Fliers Bodies. 2 February 1930

Oakland Tribune. 8 June 1930

Oakland Tribune. Another War Picture. 4 November 1930

Oakland Tribune. Injury Award to be Contested. 18 November 1931

Oakland Tribune. Appeal Fight on Damages for Captain. 18 November 1931

Oakland Tribune. Schooner Lily Bound Out on New Adventure. 24 June 1932

Oakland Tribune. Diver Salvages Columbia Safe. 14 November 1932

Oakland Tribune. 15 Boys on a Dead Man’s Chest Yo Ho For Autograph. 5 April 1934

Oakland Tribune. Wireless Reports. 22 March 1934

Oakland Tribune. Storm Fulfills Ship’s Script. 21 January 1935

Oakland Tribune. Once More “The Bloody Bounty” Sails. 21 July 1935

Oakland Tribune. 2 February 1937

Oakland Tribune. “Mutineers” Deny Charge. 30 November 1938

Oakland Tribune. The Snark Redivivus. 2 November 1941

Oregon Daily News. 23 October 1909

The Orange County Plain Dealer. 11 December 1920

Petaluma Argus Courier. Marion Swenson. 4 March 1930

Petaluma Argus Courier. Petaluma Sea Scouts See “Bounty”. 4 April 1935

Popular Mechanics. Sea Lore Kept Alive by Film. June 1937.

Popular Science. Old Sea Vessels “Made Up” as Famous Ships for the Movies. January 1936.

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Riverside Daily Press. Returning Ship Reports Normal Salmon Catch. 8 September 1917

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San Bernardino Sun. Fog and Snow Cause Airmen to Lose Path. 6 January 1930

San Bernardino Sun. Movie Ships Cash In on Years at Sea and Earn More per Day than Most Actors in Hollywood. 29 September 1930

San Bernardino Sun. Glenn Strong Lost At Sea. 27 July 1935

San Bernardino Sun. Search for Body of Glenn Strong Fails. 28 July 1935

San Bernardino Sun. Shark Hunting Expedition to Set Out Soon. 27 May 1936

San Bernardino Sun. “Persecution” Aboard Adventure Ship Told. 30 November 1938

San Bernardino Sun. Denies Filing Mutiny. 2 December 1938

San Bernardino Sun. Captain Crew Tell Conflicting Stories About Mutiny on Cruise. 11 January 1939

San Bernardino Sun. Schooner Purchased By Paramount Studios. 12 February 1939

San Francisco Call. 19 July 1896

San Francisco Call. Cloud of Sails in the Offing. 27 March 1897

San Francisco Call. News of the Ocean. 29 January 1901

San Francisco Call. Some Minor Accidents. 2 February 1901

San Francisco Call. Water-Front Notes. 25 February 1901

San Francisco Call. Water Front Notes. 6 March 1901

San Francisco Call. Changes of Captains. 6 March 1902

San Francisco Call. News of the Ocean. 4 June 1902

San Francisco Call. Marine Report. 29 March 1903

San Francisco Call. News of the Ocean. 14 May 1903

San Francisco Call. 3 October 1904

San Francisco Call. Crab Boats Get a Tow. 26 October 1904

San Francisco Call. News of the Ocean. 28 September 1905

San Francisco Call. Shipping Intelligence. 8 February 1907

San Francisco Call. 12 March 1907

San Francisco Call. News of Ocean. 24 May 1907

San Francisco Call. Returns to Port in Distress. 21 December 1907

San Francisco Call. Mate Must Face Charge of Mutiny. 10 October 1908

San Francisco Call. Captain Accuses First Mate. 12 October 1908

San Francisco Call. Schooner Lily, which Disappeared on a Stormy Night Shows Up Again. 29 January 1909

San Francisco Call. Schooner Lily Reaches Port After Being Chased Out to Sea By Hurricane. 30 January 1909

San Francisco Call. 3 October 1904

San Francisco Call. Schooner Lillie Strikes Bar. 24 October 1909

San Francisco Call. Shipping News of Coast. 27 November 1910

San Francisco Call. Waterfront Notes. 24 March 1911

San Francisco Call. Alaska Packer Chartered for Lumber Trade. 7 September 1916

San Francisco Call. Ship Workers to Leave for Big Confab. 8 June 1917

San Francisco Call. Power Changed, Ship Increases Its Speed. 28 March 1919

San Francisco Call. Shipping. 5 September 1919

San Francisco Call. Salmon Fleet Returns from Poor Season. 8 September 1919

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San Diego Union and Daily Bee. Relief Expedition Going in Search of Missing Boatman. 30 March 1909

San Diego Union and Daily Bee. Fail to Locate Schooner Lily. 31 March 1909

San Diego Union and Daily Bee. Missing Boatmen sighted by Albany. 1 April 1909

San Diego Union and Daily Bee. Wrecked Trio Home in Safety. 18 April 1909

San Luis Obispo. New Island Rises Out of Sea After Earthquake. 10 October 1908

San Jose Herald. Encountered a Water Spout. 19 February 1900

San Jose Herald. A Boat Chased By a Waterspout. 20 February 1900

San Pedro Daily News. Along the Wharves. 28 July 1906

San Pedro Daily News. Lumber Receipts are very Light. 22 June 1908

San Pedro News Pilot. Sight Abandoned Schooner. 8 April 1919

San Pedro News Pilot. Salmon Pack is Failure this Season, Is Report. 9 September 1919

San Pedro Daily News. Among the Boat Builders. 17 November 1920

San Pedro Daily News. Schooner Lily is Tossed About in Recent Gale. 28 March 1921

San Pedro Daily News. Little Schooner “Lily” Forty Years Braving Pacific Seas Heroically Soon to go on Sale as Movie Ship. 16 December 1921

San Pedro Daily News. Ship Movements. 2 September 1933

San Pedro News Pilot. 3 February 1921

San Pedro News Pilot. In The Harbor. 8 February 1921

San Pedro News Pilot. Shipping News. 16 February 1921

San Pedro News Pilot. 24 February 1921

San Pedro News Pilot. Schooner Lily’s Career as a Film Actor is Ended. 21 December 1921

San Pedro News Pilot. Vessels of Every Type Under Repair at L.A. Shipyard. 9 March 1922

San Pedro News Pilot. In the Harbor. 1 May 1922

San Pedro News Pilot. Fit out Schooner as Feeder. 7 July 1922

San Pedro News Pilot. Personal Mention. 13 March 1923

San Pedro News Pilot. 19 March 1923

San Pedro News Pilot. Notice. 20 March 1923

San Pedro News Pilot. News of the Ships and Shipping Men. 21 March 1923

San Pedro News Pilot. Begin Search for Phantom Rum Runner. 22 November 1923

San Pedro News Pilot. Coast Guard Cutter Discovers Rum Runner Off San Clemente Island. 11 March 1925

San Pedro News Pilot. 22 May 1936

San Pedro News Pilot. Water Lily Due Today. 15 June 1927

San Pedro Daily News. Shipping Notes from Coast Ports. 9 September 1927

San Pedro News Pilot. Planes Will Hunt Airmen. 9 December 1929

San Pedro News Pilot. Begin Search For Aviators. 19 December 1929

San Pedro News Pilot. Nanuk Survivor Here After Airplane Rescue. 23 December 1929

San Pedro News Pilot. Canada Fliers Ready to Hop. 28 December 1929

San Pedro News Pilot. Fox Film Buys Old Alaska Sailing Ship. 6 June 1930

San Pedro News Pilot. San Pedro’s Yesteryears. 16 December 1931

San Pedro News Pilot. Coast Guard Battles Gale to Tow Barge. 25 October 1932

San Pedro News Pilot. Stricken Mate on Way to Recovery. 26 October 1932

San Pedro News Pilot. Metha Nelson Fitted For Mexican Salt Trade. 1 September 1933

San Pedro News Pilot. 2 September 1933

San Pedro News Pilot. Schooner Nanuk Back in Port After Film Cruise. 21 September 1933

San Pedro News Pilot. On The Bridge By The Skipper. 26 May 1934

San Pedro News Pilot. Second Bounty Launched Here. 15 August 1934

San Pedro News Pilot. “Bounty” Launched for South Sea Film Crew. 16 August 1934

San Pedro News Pilot. Bounty Launch. 6 February 1935

San Pedro News Pilot. Wrigley Equipment Aids Bounty Mutiny Filming. 25 May 1935

San Pedro News Pilot. Craig Shipyard Busy With Several Jobs. 19 June 1935

San Pedro News Pilot. Craft Crashes Into Rocks at Channel Isle. 26 July 1935

San Pedro News Pilot. Scions of Dana to go to Sea. 9 January 1937

San Pedro News Pilot. Shark Hunting Expedition to Set out Soon. 27 May 1936

San Pedro News Pilot. Gale Damaged Old Schooner Taken in Tow. 23 November 1938

San Pedro News Pilot. Old Schooner Being Taken to Acapulco. 24 November 1938

San Pedro News Pilot. Mutiny Suspect Charges Jews in Crew Abused. 29 November 1938

San Pedro News Pilot. Denies Filing Mutiny Count. 2 December 1938

San Pedro News Pilot. Mutiny Charges Airing Due Soon. 9 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Metha Nelson Skipper Quizzed. 10 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Begin Inquiry into Metha Nelson Case. 11 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Notables Called in “Mutiny” Quiz. 12 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Crewman to Seek Full Pay. 13 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. “Pack of Lies” Declares Bello. 18 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. New Legal Squall Metha Nelson Pair Plan Suite. 19 January 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Schooner Metha Nelson to go Back to Job as Film Ship. 11 February 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. 22 May 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Sailing Vessel Here For Film. 22 June 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Schooner At Sea For Movie Work. 22 April 1939

San Pedro News Pilot. Old Sailing Ship Handles War Job. 17 May 1945

San Pedro News Pilot. Maritime Notes. 25 July 1946

San Pedro News Pilot. “Metha Nelson” on Market. 14 September 1946

San Pedro News Pilot. Old Schooner Again to Haul Lumber. 9 June 1947

San Pedro News Pilot. Maritime Notes. 26 August 1947

San Pedro News Pilot. Rain Total Here Now 3.71 Inches. 25 March 1948

San Pedro News Pilot. 4 Craft Grounded in “Southeasterly”. 29 April 1948

Santa Cruze Evening News. Body of Eielson On First Leg of Journey to U.S. 22 February 1930

Santa Cruz Evening News. To Take Part in Filming. 17 October 1930

Santa Cruz Evening News. “Sea Wolf” Cast Caught No Fish in Filming Drama. 24 September 1931

Santa Cruz Sentinel. Deny Mutiny Counter with Nazism Tale. 16 December 1938

Santa Maria Times. Film Ship Sunk in Squall of Channel Island. 26 July 1935

Santa Maria Times. Squall Sinks Ill – Starred Picture Ship. 26 July 1935

Santa Rosa Republican. Movie Ship Sinks in Storm, One Missing, 75 Are Saved. 26 July 1935

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